Bulgaria: egg and poultry producers cartel busted

Following the discovery of several prohibited cartel
agreements, Bulgaria's Competition Protection Committee has fined several
Bulgarian poultry and egg producers of a total of BGN 293 000 (€150,000;
US$235,000).

The Competition Committee initiated an investigation when the price of
poultry in August 2007 drastically increased.

It is reported that the several companies involved, including the Union of
Poultry Farmers in Bulgaria and Gradus Ltd Stara Zagora, among others, also
created a secret plan to control the eggs market with respect to the prices, but
also with respect to the volume of production.

It is said that these measures were clearly aimed at eliminating the
competition and increasing retail prices.

The Committee announced that the rise of egg prices in August-September
2007 had been so steep that they had overtaken the average egg prices in the EU.